


Baby Mine

by ShadowsintheClouds



Series: Short Marvel Fics and gifts [20]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adorable Tony Stark, Arc Reactor Issues, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky escapes HYDRA, Bucky raises Tony, Canon-Typical Violence, DO NOT COPY, Found Family, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Insecure Tony, Kid Tony Stark, Obadiah Is a Creep, Parent Bucky Barnes, Protective Bucky Barnes, Sick Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has Self-Esteem Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, bucky is a good dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:36:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22181920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowsintheClouds/pseuds/ShadowsintheClouds
Summary: The winter soldier is sent to kill the Starks on December 16, 1991. But things quickly change when he hits his head and finds Howard Stark's 7-month-old son in the back seat. With a new mission and returning memories, how will Bucky cope with his newfound parenthood? Will he keep Tony safe or will things crumble around them?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark-minor relationship, Peggy Carter & Tony Stark
Series: Short Marvel Fics and gifts [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1173833
Comments: 36
Kudos: 403





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Welcome to my new fic. I've had this idea for a while after seeing a Tumblr post about it. I hope you all like it. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
> 
> Here's the post in question! I found it!! [X](https://mamalaz.tumblr.com/post/162166901497/winter-soldier-raises-tony-stark-au-when-bucky)

December 16, 1991. That was the day the soldier finally broke free. Earlier that day, the Winter Soldier was sent out to kill Howard Stark while he was in transit to SHIELD when he was transporting a batch of what they were told was working super-soldier serum. He was told to kill all witnesses.

That night, the soldier set out on his bike. While he drove, his mind kept wandering. His handlers didn’t like it when his mind wandered. He tended to remember things about his past when that happened. For the solider, it meant more time in the chair. He didn’t like the chair.

As the soldier approached Stark’s car on a secluded back road he pulled out his gun to shoot out the back tire. The car rammed into a pole and the soldier hit his bike against the car to make the whole thing look like an accident. Unfortunately, because his head was elsewhere, the soldier didn’t quite correctly calculate his trajectory and he ended up hitting his head against the trunk of the car. The soldier sat there for a second as he tried to stop the onslaught of memories that entered his head. He had a mission to do.

The soldier picked himself up and walked over to the driver’s side door and pulled the elder Stark out of the car. He needed to complete the mission and maybe all the weird memories would be gone from his brain.

Once Stark was out of the car he looked up and the soldier saw recognition in his eyes. That was strange. As far as the soldier understood he’d never met this man before. 

“Sargent Barnes?” came the broken voice of the man on the ground.

Sargent Barnes! That was his name! Bucky Barnes! Another piece to the puzzle of his already broken brain. Unfortunately, he was still struggling with all the conflicting voices in his head and soon enough, Howard Stark was dead by his hand.

Bucky walked around to the other side of the car to see in Stark’s wife was still alive. She wasn’t. She’d died on impact. She’d gotten lucky. Bucky didn’t want to kill another person even if all the years of conditioning were yelling at him to just kill everything. Bucky looked at the body with pity before he turned to walk over to his bike.

And that was when he heard the crying coming from the backseat of the car.

Bucky walked over and yanked open the door to find what was making the noise. In a small car seat was Howard Stark’s infant son Anthony. The whole world knew about the baby. He was born from an affair and kept around as the new heir to Stark Industries. Bucky looked at the crying baby and frowned something didn’t seem right as he looked at the baby. Sure, the baby had only been born in May but he was sure that the infant would be bigger than he actually was for his age.

It was the cold of winter and the infant wasn’t even wearing warm clothes. The poor thing looked so thin and miserable. It was obvious to anyone that he hadn’t been taken care of. And that was when Bucky picked up the baby to stop his crying. Bucky wasn’t sure how he knew what to do. All he had was the vague memory of being a young boy and holding a baby. His sister maybe? He wasn’t sure.

Bucky stood there on the side of the road for a while, just holding little Anthony and fighting the onslaught of memories assaulting his brain. He remembered that his name was James Bucannon Barnes. He had a best friend named Steve Rogers. They were in the army together. They grew up together. They did everything together until he fell. He used to be a good person… before he fell. And that was when Bucky made a decision. The first decision he’d made for himself in a very long time. Looking at the baby in his arms Bucky knew he had to take this kid back to his home. He knew he had to get away from HYDRA. He knew he had to do something good for the first time in almost 50 years.

Bucky grabbed what fabrics he could so he could secure Anthony to himself while they travelled. It wasn’t that far of a drive to the Stark mansion and Bucky knew he’d get there in under 10 minutes. He also grabbed the super-soldier formula case for good measure. He wasn’t about to let HYDRA get their hands on it.

With the baby safely attached to his back, Bucky power up his bike and got going. He wasn’t about to continue to linger around. When he arrived at the mansion, Bucky was surprised to see a car out front. He recognized it as belonging to Director Margret Carter of SHIELD. He’d been tasked with spying on her in the past so he knew her car. What he didn’t understand was why she was at the Stark mansion if Howard and Maria were supposed to be away. Maybe she could help with this whole predicament. So, taking a deep breath, Bucky walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.

When Peggy Carter answered the door and saw Bucky standing outside in the cold with the baby she immediately called for Jarvis. Bucky just stood there and watched the whole thing as he was ushered inside as sat down on a couch in the main room. He went without complaint, still holding little Anthony in his arms.

“Sargent Barnes, how are you still alive after all this time? Why do you have Anthony with you? What happened to Howard and Maria?” asked Agent Carter and Bucky had to think for a moment on how best to explain all of this. How do you explain years of brainwashing and torture that ended with a stupid hit to the head?

So, Bucky started from the beginning. How everything started was a little hazy. All he remembered was pain and having to learn to use a new arm. He also remembered fighting back every chance he could. As he spoke, Bucky could see the looks of horror on Peggy and Jarvis’s faces. They looked concerned for his wellbeing and Bucky just held the baby a little closer as a distraction from their looks of pity.

By the end, everyone in the room was upset. Bucky was upset, Jarvis was upset, Peggy was upset, and baby Anthony was upset.

“I think he’s hungry. Is there a bottle anywhere for him?” asked Bucky and Jarvis nodded.

“Let me go fix you one. I’ll be right back.”

While Jarvis was gone, the adults sat awkwardly in silence. Well, mostly silence. Anthony was still crying and Bucky was trying to soothe him. It was almost a relief when Jarvis returned with the bottle. Baby Anthony soon quieted down as Bucky fed him probably the first meal he’d had in hours.

“You’re very good with him.” Commented Peggy as she watched Bucky feed Tony in his arms.

“I think I had some kid sisters growing up. I have memories of feeding and changing babies.” Supplied Bucky and the others nodded.

There wasn’t too much talking after that. Nobody really knew what to do moving forward. The best thing to do would be to sleep on it and regroup in the morning. Plus, it would give SHIELD Director Peggy Carter to figure out the best way to start purging HYDRA from their ranks. 

Soon enough, Tony was fed and content and very quickly falling asleep in Bucky’s arms. Jarvis noticed this and was on his feet in seconds.

“Here, I’ll lead you up to the nursery so you can put Master Anthony to bed.”

Bucky nodded and got up to follow Jarvis through the mansion. The entire place was meticulously put together. Nothing was out of place and it felt very artificial. Almost like nobody actually lived in the lavish building. Once they arrived at the nursery, Jarvis had a frown on his face as he opened the door. Bucky looked on in confusion until he actually looked at the room in question.

“What the hell!” exclaimed Bucky as he walked into the room. “My memory may be spotty but even I know that this isn’t the place for a baby.”

The room in question was in a bit of disrepair. It looked uncared for. It was completely barren except for a wooden crib with a single light blanket and a small black dresser filled with a few clothes and necessities for a young baby. 

“We had to make do with what we had.”

“But aren’t the Starks super-rich?”

“They are, but Master Stark forbid us from doing much with the baby. We did what we could. Maybe now we can do more.”

And you know what? Hearing that just made Bucky sad. Sure, he may be feeling all sorts of things and remembering all kinds of horrific events, but the thought that this tiny baby was so unloved by his parents that he had next to nothing and weighed about as much as a feather. The poor thing. It made Bucky cry.

It didn’t take long for baby Anthony to fall asleep now that he had a full tummy. Bucky gently put him in his crib and made sure he was warm enough before he followed Jarvis back to where Agent Carter was sitting. They spent the rest of the night talking and planning on how to purge HYDRA from the bowels of SHIELD. They needed to go and they couldn’t wait.

They only got a little bit of sleep that night.

The next day Peggy had to return to SHIELD but after talking with Jarvis, it was decided that Bucky would remain in the mansion to help take care of baby Anthony. Bucky didn’t mind this arrangement at all. He’d done so many bad things under HYDRA, the least he could do was help a baby who was in need. It also helped that Anthony was absolutely adorable.

That day the announcement of what happened to the Starks went live and the world freaked out. This man named Obadiah Stane showed up to ask questions. He was surprised by Bucky being there and actually looked a bit angry. He demanded to hold Anthony to check on him. Anthony cried the second he was placed in the man's arms. Babies are often good judges of character and Bucky vowed to try and keep Anthony away from the man.

Peggy arrived back later that afternoon once Stane had left. She had her husband with her along with loads of bags and boxes. Jarvis was quick to set them up in a room while Bucky sat down with Anthony and went through a baby catalogue so he could figure out all the things the baby was lacking. When Peggy and Daniel came back out they had smiles on their faces. 

“We figured it would be best if we moved in here to help. Of course, Daniel and I still have work with SHIELD, but any help is good help when it comes to babies. Plus, I do miss being around little ones. My two had both grown up.” Smiled Peggy as she sat down next to Bucky and the two started figuring out a plan to get baby Anthony what he needed.

Two days later there was another press conference. Apparently, Howard had left care of baby Anthony to Peggy in the event of his death. (The only good decision the man had made in regard to his son.) Peggy still had work and everything and was also starting to decline in health so she passed off guardianship to Bucky. SHIELD had definitely pulled some strings there but nobody was really complaining about that. Bucky was still unsure of himself with everything going on, but he knew he couldn’t fail this baby. He needed him.

The press conference was small and all Peggy did was announce that the Stark Heir was being cared for and would take over the company when he was old enough, but for now, the baby was safe.

When Bucky was given guardianship of Anthony, he was faced with a choice. He could remain Anthony’s guardian or he could adopt him. After talking it through with Peggy and Jarvis, the choice was really a no brainer. And so, Anthony Edward Stark became Anthony Steven Barnes. It was their way of washing their hands of Howard and his abuse of his baby. Now Anthony had a fighting chance. Maybe he could grow up normally. Maybe he could choose his own destiny instead of having it picked for him.

So very quickly, Bucky found himself the father of a baby. And well, he actually didn’t have any problems with that. 

Peggy was a literal saint in this time of great transition. Not only did she work with Bucky to get rid of HYDRA, but she also got Bucky the identification he’d need to be recognized as a person. It made things easier for everyone. She also got him hooked up with a pretty awesome SHIELD therapist who was working with him on building back his memories and dealing with what had happened to him in a healthy way. 

Daniel and Jarvis helped a lot too. Everyone took great joy in giving baby Anthony a proper room with all the things he’d need, and maybe some items he didn’t. But at the time, the poor kids deserved to be spoiled a bit. He’d had it so rough that some stuffed toys and blocks wouldn’t hurt. And maybe they did go overboard with the number of baby shoes but they were just so small and cute they couldn’t help themselves. And money wasn’t an issue because Peggy was very well off and Bucky was given a huge stipend everyone moth for caring for the Stark Heir.

1 Million dollars is a LOT of money for one baby!

After things had settled down and the new year had begun, Bucky left the mansion for the first time since arriving and took Tony to the doctor. It was nice to get out and drive around. HE actually made a day out of it even though he was feeling nervous about being out in public. He left early to grab some groceries and snacks and to maybe look at some more baby shoes.

It was once he and Tony saw the doctor when the problems started.

Howard had never taken his son to the doctors so everything had to be done that day. It was rough. Bucky nearly had a panic attack when Tony was getting caught up on his shots. Although he did ask to get a few himself. Even with the modified serum in his veins he still didn’t want to get polio.

With all the tests Anthony needed, they were there for hours. But at the end, they had some answers.

The first big thing was that Anthony had heart problems. It was something they’d need to keep an eye on moving forward. He also was clearly having vision problems. His eyes were behind in development and would probably never catch up. He’d need to get glasses. Fortunately, they made ones for babies and Bucky picked a cute little red pair for Anthony.

Then there was the problem with nerve and ligament damage to Anthony’s knees. The ligament problems were probably genetic but the nerve damage was caused by the legs being twisted. So yeah, Howard's fault all the way. Anthony would have to be careful as he grew and would probably need surgery and braces so he could avoid pain and mobility issues.

This news was hard to hear, but at least now they could give Anthony a fighting chance.

As the months passed Bucky worked from home to help Peggy purge HYDRA from SHIELD. With all of the information Bucky had, it was actually easy to weed out the bad and keep all the good. It was a relief when Sitwell was taken in and charged with a stupid amount of crimes. That man was never going to see the light of day again.

On a lighter note, it was coming up on Anthony’s first birthday and everyone who lived in the mansion was making a big deal out of everything. Tony had been thriving under his new care and honestly, so had Bucky. They were both good for each other. But even so, they wanted to give baby Anthony the birthday he deserved. He’d had such a rough start to life that this was a big deal.

“Are you excited for your birthday little guy?” asked Bucky as he picked up the baby and blew him a raspberry. Anthony just laughed and blew one back.

“You’re getting so big! Such a big boy now, eh Bub?” smiled Bucky.

“Ya Dada!”

Bucky had to stop everything for a moment to make sure he’d just heard that right. This was… incredible. In one fell swoop, Tony had said his first word, his first sentence, and called him Dada. He was Dada! Bucky couldn’t believe it!

“You’re talking… Oh my god, you’re talking.” Smiled Bucky as his brain finally caught up to the situation. Anthony just smiled.

Yeah, Bucky was a dad and his little boy was growing up. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have written a good chunk of this chapter while wine drunk so let's do this!!!

As little Anthony continued to grow up everyone quickly realized how intelligent the kid was. Once he mastered the use of a pencil, Anthony was quickly reading and writing. He was doing maths and building things. The kid was a damn genius! Everyone was super proud of all of Anthony’s achievements and they just knew that he was going to change the world.

Also in this time, Bucky got a job. He was brought on at SHIELD as a consultant and would start going in to train new agents and help track down rogue HYDRA agents once Tony started school. It was all going to be office work except for emergencies, but Bucky didn’t mind. He was just happy to stay at home and play games with Anthony. 

Speaking of which, as time continued on Anthony soon became known as Tony. Little Tony Barnes. Such a sweet and loving child. He would draw all sorts of things for his Aunty Peggy and Uncle Daniel. He’d try and help Jarvis around the house. He’d give Bucky so many hugs. He was such a lovable kid. He also wasn’t shy at all. He’d wave at people and smile. He’d run around with the other kids at the park. Tony was a little social butterfly. 

And then everything changed when Tony turned four.

When Bucky had had his back turned, Tony had gotten into Howard's old lab and had taken a whole bunch of stuff up to his room and hidden it. He wanted to make a circuit board like the one in the book on robots his Daddy had gotten him for his birthday. 

So that’s what he did. A week after having stollen the parts and tools, Tony came running downstairs to show off his creation. Jarvis, Peggy, Daniel, and Bucky were entertaining Stane who was there to talk business for SI. So when Tony showed up with a big hunk of metal and wires everyone was a little confused.

“What’cha got there Tony bologna?” asked Bucky as he looked over at Tony.

“I made it. It’s a circuit board! See. It works.” Smiled Tony as he flipped a couple of switches and the entire thing came alight. 

“Tony! This is incredible! I’m so proud of you.” Smiled Bucky as he pulled his kid onto his lap and kissed his fluffy hair. Everyone else agreed so as well.

“That’s brilliant my boy!” smiled Stane creepily as he looked down at the child. “You should announce this. I’m sure the public will enjoy the news of Howard’s son getting ready to take over the company.”

“Um… no. First of all, Tony is four. He’s a kid. He’s not taking over anything anytime soon. Let him be a kid. Second of all, I’m his dad now and I don’t want him in the public eye. It’s not good for a kid to be followed like that.”

But Stane didn’t listen to anything that Bucky had said and the next day there were pictures and an article about how the Stark Heir was already getting ready to take the weapons game by storm. Bucky was fuming and actually filed a lawsuit against Stane for what he’d done. He won the case but unfortunately, the damage was done.

Bucky couldn’t take Tony out much anymore because of the paparazzi. They wanted to get pictures of Tony for their news stories about the young heir and Bucky didn’t want that. He just wanted Tony to be a normal kid and do normal kid stuff. Sure, he encouraged Tony’s educational exploits, but he still wanted to take Tony places like the park and the zoo where he could just have fun.

The paparazzi played heavily in choosing a school when the time came. Bucky ended up choosing a gated private school in the area. It wasn’t a boarding school, so Tony would be home every night. Plus the school had an amazing science program. The only downside was that Tony had to wear a uniform. The kid really didn’t want to, no matter how many times Bucky told him he looked so handsome in his new tie. 

Dropping Tony off for his first day wasn’t as eventful as Bucky had hoped. Tony was just excited and ran straight for his classroom once the bell rang to start the day. He was just so excited to make new friends. Bucky was just happy that Tony was happy.

Although, the day quickly changed when Bucky got a call just after lunch. Apparently Tony had had an allergic reaction to some food served. He was alright but would need to see a doctor. Bucky picked him up and got Tony checked out. He’d be fine in the long run. It was nothing serious.

But the thing is, it kept happening. For most of that first week, Bucky had to pick Tony up to take him to the doctor’s office. By the end of the week, Bucky threw in the towel and got Tony allergy-tested against the foods he was being served at school. 

Turned out Tony was allergic to shellfish, coconuts, mint, saffron, and certain types of grains in bread. 

Bucky didn’t normally keep all those “rich person foods” like shellfish and saffron around the house. Actually, nobody who lived in the old Stark house liked some of this stuff. So, keeping Tony away from certain foods wasn’t going to be a problem at home and his school was just going to have to deal with things.

Once that was all sorted Tony had an easier time with his classes. Actually, it was almost too easy. Very quickly Tony’s teacher suggested he move up a few grades. Bucky was hesitant but in the end, agreed. He knew Tony would just get frustrated if he wasn’t challenged. So, Tony moved up a few grades.

And it kept happening.

By the time Tony was 10 years old he was already in middle school and getting ready for high school the following year. Everyone was super proud of how smart Tony was. Although, being so much younger then everyone else wasn’t very conclusive to making friends.

Tony didn’t have any. He was bullied in his classes for being so small. He was made fun of because he was smart. He got beat up a few times because Tony wasn’t allowed to play sports with his heart and knees. It was rough. Bucky did what he could to make sure that Tony was happy. But he really needed a friend.

This lead to Tony having some pretty severe self-esteem issues. Tony stopped talking when they were in public because he was scared of people hurting him and making fun of him. The teachers at his school were no help because they “conveniently” never saw anything that happened to Tony. Bucky had a theory that it was the kid's parents paying off the school to keep their child’s record clean. It just wasn’t fair. Bucky just wanted Tony to be the happy, confident little kid he used to be. Now he hardly spoke to others and had anxiety that had to be treated with medication. 

To make things even worse, just as the school year started tragedy struck the house. Jarvis had fallen ill and just wasn’t going to get better. Bucky was the one to pick Tony up from school that day so he could say goodbye to Jarvis while he was still alive. Bucky would never forget the tears in Tony’s eyes and he snuggled on the bed next to the man who had helped raise him even after his heart had finally stopped. Jarvis had been like a grandparent to Tony and he was heartbroken to see him go.

The following few days before and after the funeral were hard on everyone, especially Tony. Yes, Tony understood what death was and what happened, but this was different than reading things in a book or seeing a dead fish in the pond. This was a member of his family and it made his heartbreak.

“Why did Jarvis have to die? Why him? Why couldn’t he just stay here with us?” sobbed Tony as Bucky pulled him onto his lap. It was just after the funeral and Tony was all high strung and overly upset. 

“I don’t know Tony. Sometimes… Sometimes people die. It’s sad and you’re allowed to be sad. You’ll always miss Jarvis and he’ll miss you. But for now, all we can do is live and do things that would make him proud. Just keep on being the amazing boy you are and I know for a fact that Jarvis will be proud of you. Alright, Bub?” 

Tony nodded along and continued crying. Bucky just held him and hoped that everything would get better.

When Tony turned 11, just before he started high school, he had surgery on both his knees. For months he’d been plagued with intense pain when moving or even just straightening his legs. Bucky did what he could to help Tony. Originally they thought it was just his normal pain mixed with growing pains. That wasn’t the case. Not long after Tony turned 11, he woke up one night screaming he was in so much pain. Bucky was quick to rush Tony into the hospital. The whole time Tony was screaming and crying in pain. It hurt Bucky knowing that his kid was in pain and he couldn’t do anything.

They were quickly seen by a doctor who gave Tony some pain relief. It worked a little bit, but Tony was still in pain. Tony was quickly rushed off to get x-rays done and to see some specialists in the hospital. Bucky was at his side the entire time. He wasn’t about to leave his kid alone until he was sure that he’d be alright.

After hours of testing, one of the doctors came up to Bucky with some answers.

“Mr. Barnes. We have some answers as to what is wrong with your son. If you take a seat we can begin the explanation as well as start a treatment plan.”

Bucky nodded and took a seat next to Tony’s bed where the poor kid was finally getting some sleep. The doctor went into a long-winded explanation of what was wrong with Tony’s knees. It was something about the nerves not working as they should along with muscles not attaching and allowing some of the bones to grind. Tony would need surgery to help alleviate the pain and would need leg braces moving forward so he could walk properly. He wouldn’t be allowed to do gym class in school but neither of them really had a problem with that. Bucky didn’t want Tony doing sports with people so much bigger than him anyway.

The day of Tony’s surgery was just generally upsetting for everyone. Tony was still in pain and he really didn’t want to go in for surgery. He was scared. Nobody blamed him for being scared. Any sane person would be. Luckily, Bucky got to stay with Tony as they put him under. Bucky almost lost his composure as Tony cried in fear before the medication kicked in and he was sent off to sleep. 

The entire time Tony was in surgery Bucky was pacing around the room. He’d had 8 cups of coffee and was running on nothing but worry. He’d called Peggy and Daniel to let them know what was going on. They tried their best to help calm him down, but Bucky was still a bundle of nerves. He wouldn’t be calm again until he could see his son.

Finally, after hours of waiting, the doctor came out to tell Bucky that Tony did well and that there were no complications. Bucky felt immense relief as he was escorted back to his son who was just beginning to wake up. Tony looked so small with all the wire attached to him monitoring things, Bucky almost didn’t want to touch him. He looked so delicate. Although once Tony began to open his sweet brown eyes, Bucky was at his side and offering comfort. 

“How ya feeling Bub?” asked Bucky as he ran his hand through his son’s hair in a comforting gesture.

“Hurt…”

“I know Bub. But every thing's going to get better. Just wait. For now, just rest and get better. I’ll be right here.”

Two days later Tony’s new x-rays came back. Everything looked alright and he’d be good to start wearing his new braces once the wounds healed. Both were elated that Tony could go back home soon. The hospital was starting to feel like a prison and they wanted out. So, once Tony was discharged, they booked it home and put on a movie for the night. 

The rest of Tony’s summer was spent resting and going to physiotherapy so that he could learn to use his knee braces. Bucky did try to do some fun things with Tony. He took him to visit Peggy and Daniel who were now living in a nursing home

Tony starting high school was an experience. They’d changed school in the hopes that Tony would have a better go of it but pretty much from the get-go Tony was made fun of by all the rich brats for his leg braces. Tony became even more self-conscious about everything and started locking himself away. Bucky spoke to a child phycologist to try and figure out what he should do and she suggested enrolling Tony in some clubs. 

That wasn’t a half-bad idea so Bucky went and put Tony in some after school programs on campus so he could hopefully make friends with more like-minded people. It meant that Tony was away from him more and Bucky would have to make sure he kept track of all of his own medications and that was pretty stressful.

Tony didn’t end up making any friends. 

There were some upsides to Tony joining in on clubs at school. Even though he wasn’t making any friends and the older students seemed to resent his genius, Tony had more of an opportunity to work on his robotics skills. For all four years of high school, Tony got first place at the State Robotics Championships. Bucky was so, so proud of his kid. He made it to ever even to cheer him on and made sure that Tony’s trophies had a nice home in the living room. 

Actually, it was just after one of Tony’s Championships that he’d found out he’d gotten into MIT!

“Dad! Dad! Dad! I got in! I got in!” shouted Tony has he came barrelling into the kitchen where Bucky was preparing a celebratory dinner after Tony’s latest win.

“To MIT?” asked Bucky as he waited for an answer.

Tony nodded his head and Bucky cheered and scooped him into a hug. This was Tony’s dream school. He was so happy he’d gotten in.

“Well, this calls for even more of a celebration. What’d’ya say we go out to the fancy ice cream place after dinner?”

“Really?” asked Tony, his eyes shining with hope.

“Of course Bub. You deserve it. In one day you won your state championship and got into MIT! That’s pretty impressive. I say that deserves a treat.” 

Tony smiled and Bucky mirrored him. He was so damn proud of his kid. He never thought he’d have anything like this when he was young and he certainly hadn’t thought about this while he was stuck with HYDRA. Now he was a kid who was absolutely amazing and a life worth living.

A few months after that Tony graduated high school. The day Tony graduated high school was bittersweet for Bucky. On one hand, he was so very proud of his son. On the other, he was sad because Tony was growing up so fast. The day itself was nice. Tony graduated top of his class. He should have been the valedictorian but the principal wouldn’t let him speak to the class at the ceremony because of his age and the fact that Tony still didn’t have any friends. It made Bucky mad that his son was being left out so much. Hopefully, things would be better once Tony was at MIT in the fall.

Bucky got some nice pictures of Tony in his grad gown before the ceremony and he took him out to lunch after everything. It was nice to have that time together. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing things that Tony wanted to do such as seeing a new movie and getting pizza.

The night was just spent at home. Tony wasn’t allowed to go to his grad dinner and dance. His doctor had said no because of his knees and then there was the fact that Tony would have been all alone in a room full of horny teenagers who were for sure sneaking alcohol and drugs in. So Tony stayed at home with Bucky and they worked on fixing up an old car together. 

The next day Bucky had Peggy, Daniel, and Stane over to celebrate Tony’s graduation. Bucky didn’t really want Stane there but he was still the head of SI and Tony needed to have good relations with him if he ever wanted to get the company out of his greedy hands. Of course, that would be all up to Tony, but Bucky wanted him to have the option should he choose to take over.

The afternoon was mostly spent talking with the adults asking Tony about his plans for MIT and where he would be staying. Bucky had actually thought of that so he explained his plans to everyone else. He’s gone a bought a small, 3 bedroom house just off of campus for them to live in. Tony was still too young to live alone and with his health problems it was better to stay close. But living near campus gave Tony the independence he needed but also a safe place to stay. Stane tried to argue that Tony should live on his own, but nobody heard him out. Tony was 14. He still needed his dad. 

At one point towards the end of the day, Stain pulled Tony aside to talk. Bucky assumed that it was to give Tony a graduation present that he would not approve of, but when Tony came to him later with worry written all over his face, he knew different.

“What’s wrong Tony?” asked Bucky as he sat down next to Tony once everyone had left. 

“Dad. Mr. Stane said I should worry more about making weapons then robots once I got to MIT. I don’t wanna worry about weapons. I don’t wanna hurt people.” Spoke Tony, his voice small.

“You don’t have to Tony. You can grow up to be whatever you want. You’re such a smart boy. Just because Howard made weapons doesn’t mean you have to.”

“But Mr. Stane said I’m a Stark and Starks make weapons.”

“Tony sweetheart, you are not a Stark. You haven’t been one since you were 7 months old. You’re a Barnes and Barnes’ forge their own path. Don’t listen to Mr. Stane. You are your own person with your own dreams. If you want to make robots and computers then go for it. Make the world better with your inventions. You’re a good kid Tony. Don’t let Stane push you into being something you’re not.” Explained Bucky.

Tony nodded and allowed his dad to pull him into a hug. The poor kid had such low self-esteem. Bucky hoped that would change once he was at MIT and around like minds. He just wanted his kid to be happy.

Moving out to MIT was actually pretty fun. The house was pretty nice and Tony had a wild time decorating his room. It was a single level house to Tony didn’t have to deal with stairs, but it was still roomy and nice. There was a backyard that Bucky was just waiting to turn into a nice garden as well as a nice pond at the end of the block. Yes, this house would de great until Tony graduated.

Starting MIT was a different story. Even though Tony was used to being the smallest in his classes and even the smartest, high school was nothing compared to college. Poor Tony, who was such a sensitive soul, would often come home crying because both students and professors would contently underestimate him and then get mad when Tony was right and they were wrong. It just wasn’t fair. 

Although, things finally started looking up for Tony one day in late September. He’d come straight home after his physics lab with a huge smile on his face. He slammed the front door open before practically jogging his way to the living room where Bucky was sitting and doing some paperwork. 

“Dad! Dad! Dad! Guess what? I made a friend today! An actual friend!” screamed Tony as he flung his backpack onto the couch and went to hug Bucky. 

“Really! What’s their name?” asked Bucky as he hugged his son.

“His name is Rhodey. He helped me after some jocks tripped me. He yelled at them and said I’m his friend now. We’re going out to lunch together tomorrow!”

The two boys quickly became inseparable after that

The best thing about Tony finding his first friend in James Rhodes, or Rhodey, was that Tony was finally starting to gain some confidence. The worst thing was that those two were trouble. To say that Bucky was surprised when he got a call from SHIELD saying that Tony and Rhodey had cracked their firewall was an understatement.

Actually, by the time it was thanksgiving the two were pretty much joined at the hip. So, not only was Tony dragging his new bots, DUM-E, U- and Butterfingers around for the holidays, he was also dragging around Rhodey. Well, Rhodey and his Mom. Bucky had invited them both over for the holiday so that the boys could work on things together. Bucky got to talking with Mrs. Rhodes and the two had a surprising amount in common. And after a long while, they eventually got to the topic of Rhodey’s living arrangements. She didn’t like where her son was living but it was close to the school so it helped. 

Bucky jumped in with a solution to the problem.

After a long talk with Mama Rhodes about the pros and cons, she agreed to have Bucky house her son. She thought it was a good idea that he have a place to stay that had warm food and parental supervision because he was a trouble magnet. It didn’t take long after that for Rhodey to move out of his shitty apartment and into the spare room at the Barnes’ house.

Not long after that Tony made another couple of friends. Virginia Potts who was at Harvard for her master’s in business and her boyfriend Harold Hogan. Both of them got their own nicknames from Tony and quickly became Pepper and Happy. Bucky would often have all four of them over at the house so they could study and hang out somewhere safe.

Around Tony’s 15th birthday, Tony created something amazing. Something that pretty much gave him his first doctorate. Actually it did give him his first doctorate. Tony Barnes became the youngest person to ever receive a doctorate in computer sciences because he made a 100% fully functional, self-learning AI he called Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, or JARVIS for short. 

Bucky was so proud when Tony got his doctorate. He threw a big party for him with all his friends and even managed to have Peggy and Daniel come over. There was cake and Bucky even got Tony a whole new tool kit that he’d been wanting as a congratulations gift. Tony was all hugs and smiles the whole day. 

It was moments like this that made everything worth it.

Unfortunately, Tony’s happiness and success didn’t last long. Once the new school year started Tony was bombarded with nasty rumours about himself. People started calling Tony a slut, a drunk, a druggy. There were fake headlines about him along with photoshopped pictures. It was horrible. Every last thing written there was a lie and those lies were hurting Tony. He was subjected to ridicule, sexual harassment, and drug tests. The poor kid was only 15 for fuck's sake!

The fact that the headlines always called Tony a Stark lead Bucky right to who was putting out the false information. This was Stane’s fault for sure. He was still one of the few people out there that still called Tony a Stark. This had to stop. So, while Tony was safe at home working on some homework with Rhodey for the weekend, Bucky drove back to New York to go confront Stane. 

The entire drive Bucky was fuming. He’d always known that Stane was a dirty little sneak but this was pushing it. He really wished that he could cut the man out of Tony’s life, but with his hold on the company that Tony would inherit in a few years, he just couldn’t. The best Bucky could do was put the fear of God into the man in the hopes that he’d heave Tony alone and then back the fuck off once Tony turned 18.

“Mr. Barnes. What can I do for you today?” asked Stane once Bucky arrived and stormed into his office.

“Do you mind explaining this?” growled Bucky as he slapped a newspaper on his desk. Stane looked at it for a moment before responding.

“This? This is nothing.”

“Nothing!? NOTHING! This is NOT nothing! This is slander!” shouted Bucky and he was sure that everyone on the floor could hear him.

“So what? He should be more like his father. Howard was doing all this kind of Stuff at Tony’s age. I’m just helping his social standpoint. Making him look cool in front of all the other kids.”

“First of all, I AM his father. Tony hasn’t been a Stark for a long ass time so cut the crap. Second of all, you’re doing the farthest thing from helping him! Tony’s being ridiculed. He’s being sexually harassed by people way older than him. He’s being tested for drugs all the time because of you! You’ve made everything worse!” shouted Bucky and Stane actually looked frightened. Good. 

“You’d better stop this all right now. And if this doesn’t stop then I will bring the full power of the Winter Soldier down on you. Do you understand?”

Stane nodded and Bucky stormed out of the office.

A few weeks later the articles stopped. But once again, the damage was done and Bucky felt horrible that he hadn’t been able to protect his son. Hopefully, he could keep Stane away from his precious baby boy in the future. Here’s hoping. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, guys! What did you think? The reason I made Pepper date Happy was because she’d be so much older then Tony at this point if she wasn’t doing accelerated education. She’s probably in her mid 20’s. If she dated our Tony it would be weird. Other then that drop a comment to let me know what you thought. I’ll see you soon. -Shadows


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time for a new chapter! ENJOY!!! Drop a comment to let me know what you thought! -Shadows

In 2008, just before Tony turned 17, life at the Barnes house got turned upside down in one of the worst ways possible. Bucky would forever lament that what happened was his fault. He should have been more attentive. He should have gone with Tony. He just should have been better. But at the time, everything seemed so innocent. Everything should have been simple. This should have been a good learning opportunity for Tony so he could make decisions about the company if he chose to take over from Stane when he was done school.

That’s not what happened. 

“Dad.” Asked Tony one day in February once he’d gotten home from his classes. Rhodey was still in the lab and not home yet.

“Yes, Tony?”

“Um, Mr. Stane texted me. He wants me to go with him to Afghanistan during spring break to watch him give weapons demos. He said it’ll be good for when I take over and uh… I kind of agree. Just so I can see what’s being done so I can change it when I’m in charge.” 

Now, Bucky had always been warry of Stane. This was the man who constantly tried to put Tony in a media spotlight. This was a man who had literal slander printed against Tony because he wanted the kid to act like Howard did. But, this was also the man who stood between Tony and his rightful inheritance. Tony had a bright mind and the resources that SI had could help Tony change the world for the better.

“I’ll have a chat this Stane. I have some very strict ground rules that need to be agreed to before I let him take you anywhere.”

Tony nodded and for the next few days thought nothing of it. Bucky, on the other hand, complied documents and had contracts drawn up that Stane had to agree to and sign before he let Tony anywhere near him.

There was a long discussion. A very, very long discussion. And maybe some yelling. Well, maybe a lot of yelling. Bucky just wanted to make sure that Stane wouldn’t try anything funny. Eventually, he and Stane came to an agreement. Documents were signed, bags were packed, and all too soon Bucky was driving Tony to the airport after they said bye to Rhodey.

“You promise me you’ll be careful Tony. You listen to what all the adults are telling you and you be careful.” Worried Bucky as he gave his son one last hug before he got on the plane.

“Don’t worry so much Dad. It’s only for three days. I promise I’ll listen to all the adults and I’ll be careful. I’ll be fine.” Smiled Tony although his eyes betrayed his nervousness.

“Just be careful. Love you, Tony.”

“Love you too Dad.”

The smile Stane gave Bucky before they left almost had Bucky running onto the plane and dragging Tony back home with him.

He should have trusted his gut. 

Two days later Bucky had been sitting at his office at SHIELD when he got a call from Stane. He honestly hadn’t been expecting a call from him. Sure, he’d gotten calls from Tony every night so they could talk but getting a call from Stane just set alarm bells ringing. 

“What do you want Stane?” asked Bucky as he answered the phone.

“Well, um… there’s been an incident.” Spoke Stane, his voice sounded shaky but more like it was voiced that way on purpose.

“What happened?” worried Bucky. He needed to know if his son was alright.

“Well… uh… I may have left Tony unattended in the desert so I could help load up some weapons. There uh… there was an ambush and an explosion and now Tony’s been uh… taken.” Admitted Stane and Bucky’s heart dropped.

“YOU LEFT HIM ALONE WITH WEAPONS IN THE DESERT!? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Shouted Bucky as his anger and panic began to rise exponentially.

“It’s not like I planned for this to happen. He’s very mature. Tony should have been able to take care of himself.”

“STANE. TONY IS STILL A KID. HE’S A KID WITH FUCKING MEDICAL ISSUES AND YOU LEFT HIM ALONE!”

“He’ll be fine. He’s a Stark. It’ll be ok.”

“OK? OK!? THIS IS YOUR FAULT STANE! THIS IS YOUR GOD DAMN FAULT! TONY IS 16! HE’S NOT EVEN 17 YET. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN WATCHING HIM. I TRUSTED YOU TO WATCH HIM! WHAT IN THE WORLD POSSESSED YOU TO LEAVE HIM ALONE IN AN ACTIVE WAR ZONE? NOW HE’S MISSING AND PROBABLY INJURED AND THIS IS ALL ON YOU!” 

Bucky slammed his phone down, breaking it in the process. This was bad. This was very bad. Bucky began to hyperventilate as he slid out of his chair and onto the floor of his office. His son had been taken by terrorists. This was literally the worst-case scenario.

Bucky sat on the floor and cried for a little bit. He needed to get his emotions out before he started getting people searching for his son. He needed to get Tony back. It didn’t matter what he had to do, but he was going to get his son back. He needed to. 

Meanwhile, Tony was suffering.

He’d woken up in a cold, damp, cave with a tube in his nose, a car battery powering his heart, and a headache to end all headaches. He wasn’t alone in that cave. He was joined by a man named Ho Yinson and he was a doctor. He explained to Tony what had happened as Tony looked over his body. His leg braces were trashed, his glasses were cracked, he was covered in cuts and bruises. He looked horrible.

Yinson did what he could to help Tony. He was still just a kid after all. Yinson used to have kids of his own. The fact that Tony had been brought into a war zone and kidnaped was horrible. He’d never wish this on any child. So, he did what he could while the Ten Rings waited for Tony to recover enough to be of use. That day came sooner then they wanted.

“What are they saying? What do they want with me?” asked Tony with fear in his eyes. There were guns pointed at them and Tony was trying very hard not to panic.

“They want you to make a copy of the Stane Technical Missile. They said you know how, and they want one made to their specifications.” Answered Yinson as he translated. Tony’s heart sunk.

“I don’t know how. I’ve never made anything that’s intentionally exploded before.” Whispered Tony.

“Then lie. They’ll kill you if they know the truth.”

“No… I don’t want to make weapons.”

Well, apparently one of the few English words that the goons knew and soon Tony was dragged off and waterboarded for what felt like hours. He felt light-headed and was in horrible pain because he’d been electrocuted a few times by the car battery. Tony gave in after a while just to get the pain to stop. After that, some sort of ramson video was recorded before Tony was shown crates upon crates of SI weapons to work with. Tony was confused. He thought the weapons were only sold to the military. This was bad. Very, very bad.

“Who are these people and how to they had SI weapons?” asked Tony once he was returned back to Yinson. The man in question was checking Tony over and bandaging Tony’s new injuries with some old cloth they had.

“They are your loyal customers. They call themselves the Ten Rings.”

“How are they, my customers? I don’t even do anything for SI yet. I’m still in school. I’m not even an adult yet.” Worried Tony as he sat there and tried to think up a way out of this.

“That’s not what I’ve heard. People say that you are the mastermind behind all of Stark Industries' newest weapons.”

“That’s not true. I’ve never made a weapon before. Not on purpose. Sure, Rhodey and I accidentally made a few things explode before in the lab at school but I’ve never made like a gun before. I’ve never even looked at the spec for that stuff from SI. I don’t want to make weapons” sighed Tony as he was finally let up. He needed to think up a way out and he needed a way to keep his heart going without the battery.

Tony thought back to the time he was let wild in Mr. Stane’s office. He’d come across some old blueprints that had belonged to Howard Stark for something called the Arc Reactor. Stane had ripped then out of his hands and told Tony not to snoop. He told him that SI made weapons and not yuppy hippy stuff. But Tony had had the specs seared into his head. If he could just miniaturize it then it would work way better.

So after getting the things he needed, Tony got to work. He had Yinson help him stand and get around when he needed it and Yinson was happy to help. Tony told Yinson what he was working on and soon enough the two were working together to create and smaller arc reactor. Sometimes, while Yinson did some of the heavy lifting that Tony just couldn’t with his heart and knees, the teen would sit off to the side and draw up some other plans. Some… more explosive plans. 

“That doesn’t look like a missile.” Commented Yinson as he looked over what Tony was working on.

“I don’t even know the specs for any of the weapons made by SI. I don’t want to make them when I take over. No, this is our ticket out of here after I finish fixing this whole battery situation.” 

Tony put all the sheets together and the picture they formed was amazing. It was a suit of metal powered by the arc reactor Tony was working just finishing. It was reminiscent of a knights armour but with more flame throwers.

“So what’cha say? Wanna get out of here?” smiled Tony as the two looked over everything.

“Let’s get to work.” 

When May 29th rolled around, Bucky spent the day sitting in bed and looking at pictures of Tony as he grew up. Bucky always did try to take as many pictures as possible. He wanted proof that he was there and he had a wonderful son. He wanted memories. But that day, those memories only brought him tears.

The past few months had been hard. Bucky had asked Fury and the rest of SHIELD to help. They did as a personal favour to Bucky. They’d begun to narrow down the area and it was only a matter of time before Bucky had some answers as to what had happened to his son. But in the meantime, Bucky could only wait. He wanted to desperately to head out himself to look for Tony but he knew that would probably do more harm than good.

Luckily, around the first week of June, Bucky finally got some good news.

“Barnes, we’ve got the approximate location of the Ten Rings base of operations. We’re moving out tonight. I have a feeling you might want to join us.” Spoke Director Fury over the phone.

Bucky was very quick to agree and found himself suiting up later that night on the plane with other SHIELD agents. He didn’t pay them any mind. He just wanted to get his baby boy back. The only thing that was able to pull Bucky out of his head was the sight of a massive explosion right in the zone where they thought the Ten Ringer were.

Bucky didn’t even think. He grabbed a parachute and jumped out of that plane. He needed to know if Tony was alright. He needed to know if his son was alive. Bucky found himself sprinting through the desert on foot once he’d landed. As he got closer and closer to the explosion sight, he could hear the screams of people and the sound of bombs going off. He started sprinting even faster but paused for a moment when he was a hunk of metal in the land with a person inside it. Bucky took his gun out and started to move closer. Although he dropped his weapons the instant he saw who was in the smouldering remains of charred metal.

“Tony!”

“… Dad?”

Bucky fell to his knees and scooped his son into his arms. Tony instantly started crying as he clung to the man. Bucky could tell that Tony really wasn’t doing well. He was crying but also coughing up a storm. His legs and arms looked burnt. He wasn’t wearing his knee braces and there was a soft blue glow coming from his chest.

That worried Bucky the most.

“What happened Bub? Why is your chest glowing?” asked Bucky as he picked Tony up and began to carry him to where the SHIELD plane had landed.

“Shrapnel. Please no touch…” was all Bucky got out of him before Tony passed out.

Bucky picked up the pace and got Tony onto the plane for medical attention. The SHIELD plane was decked out with a full medical area with x-rays machines and other equipment. The doctors on board were quick to start treating Tony’s burns and breaks. He had some broken toes and burns covering almost all of his right arm. Bucky didn’t leave his son’s side for a second. He also kept the doctors from touching the blue machine in his chest. Tony said not to touch it and he believed him.

They quickly arrived at a nearby SHIELD base and Tony was rushed to medical to run more tests. The doctors didn’t touch the blue machine, but they did take some x-rays. The machine was keeping shrapnel out of Tony’s heart as well as powering it. It also took up some very precious lung capacity. Tony would most likely need an inhaler from now on. The burns Tony had were superficial and would heal fine. He’d just need a sling for his right arm so it would move less. His knees were banged up and he’d need stringer knee braces, but in the end, Tony was alive. That was all that mattered.

“Hey, Bub? How you feeling? Do you need anything?” asked Bucky as Tony slowly woke up. He hadn’t left his son’s side since finding him.

“Wanna go home.” Whispered Tony. Bucky just climbed onto the bed and held his son close.

“I know Bub. We’ll get you home. I know Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy miss you. We’ll get you home so you can rest somewhere safe.” Soothed Bucky.

“Missed you.”

“I missed you too Bub. Now you just rest and I’ll see about getting us home.”

A day later, Bucky was able to convince the doctors to let Tony go home where he could rest up somewhere more comfortable. They let Tony go after giving him a new inhaler and knee braces that Tony would inevitably take apart and improve. Tony slept most of the plane ride back. It was only after they were about an hour away from home when he woke up and got antsy. He wanted to see his friends and his Rhodey. The two had started dating not long before Tony was taken. Rhodey had been a mess while Tony was gone.

The second the plane landed and they were let off, Bucky helped Tony down the ramp and towards where his friends were waiting. The kid was surrounded by hugs and a few kisses from Rhodey. Bucky just smiled and stood off to the side. He’d had his reunion with Tony, now it was his friend's turn.

After a little while, Bucky got everyone bundled up into the van SHIELD had sent them. It was mostly silent as Tony was still tired and everyone else was just feeling immense relief. 

“I want to hold a press conference.” Spoke Tony and everyone looked at him.

“What?” asked Rhodey and Happy at the same time. Both looked confused.

“The Ten Rings had Stark Industries weapons. Somebody is dealing under the table and telling them that I made them I need to fix this. The public needs to know what’s going on. I can’t stand by and let people get hurt.”

“Are you sure about this Tony?” asked Bucky. He trusted his son’s judgment. Tony nodded and Bucky made some calls once they got home.

The next day, even though Tony was still injured and tired, he donned his best suit and went off to do his very first press conference. Bucky was by his side the whole time. He knew this could get ugly and he wanted to be there for Tony when shit hit the fan. Before Tony went up, Bucky made sure he took his anxiety medication and he also gave him a really good pep talk.

“Good afternoon everybody. I’m sure this conference is coming as a bit of a shock. Trust me, I know.” Started Tony as everyone started at him.

“Why call a conference Mr. Stark? You’ve only just gotten back from three months in captivity.” Asked one of the journalists there.

“First of all, my last name isn’t Stark, it’s Barnes. Just because Howard Stark was responsible for my conception doesn’t mean I have his last name. He didn’t raise me. My dad did. Second of all, I asked for this conference because I need the world to know what I saw out there. I saw Stark Industries' weapons in the hands of terrorists. I saw those weapons used for pure evil.” The crowd was silent as Tony spoke. You could have heard a pin drop in that room.

“You guys can believe me or not. I don’t care. What I care about is that people know what’s happening out there. You may think I’m just a kid and that I don’t know anything. But I’ve been in the middle of that war. I’ve seen things nobody should ever have to see. I’ve experienced things nobody should ever have to experience.” Tony’s voice cracked a bit as he spoke. 

“I’m letting you all know now, that the second I take hold of Stark Industries, there will be no more weapons. No more! I’ve seen what they do now. I never wanted to make them before and I really don’t want to make them now. No more! Senseless death and destruction is happening because people are irresponsible with weapons. Innocent civilians are being hurt and killed every day and nobody is doing anything to stop this! So I’m going to. This time next year, be ready for change. It’s coming whether people want it or not. ”

Tony soon stormed off and went back to find Bucky. Bucky pulled his son into a hug. The poor kid was shaking and needed to go home and rest. Bucky got Tony bundled into the car, and just as he was about to enter himself, he saw Stane approaching.

“Stane! You… You stay away from him! You’re never getting near Tony ever again, ya hear!” shouted Bucky. He didn’t even give Stane a chance to speak before he was speeding back off towards home.

The day after the press conference the articles started pouring in. Tony and Rhodey sat down on the sofa in the living room and went over them together while Bucky kept an eye on what Stane was doing. The general consensus seemed positive. Most people agreed that a kid experiencing war and pain was bad and that Tony wanting to stop SI from making weapons was a good thing. Although, there were some business magazines that didn’t like that one bit. That and all those annoying people who thought to greatly of the second amendment. But the opinions of those idiots didn’t matter. 

Tony spent most of the day sleeping after that. Rhodey stuck to his side and Bucky made sure that the boys were doing alright. He knew Tony needed his sleep. He had his Ph.D. dissertation coming up the next week. The academic board had decided to allow Tony to present his thesis once he’d healed a bit more. Sure, it was unusual to present during the summer, but Tony was one of their star pupils and had been kidnapped. The kid deserved a chance to have this.

And you know what? Tony absolutely nailed it and received his third doctorate in Mechanical Engineering. Tony had actually changed his dissertation last minute. With Rhodey’s help, Tony had completely rewritten and redid everything in the span of a week. His new dissertation was on the usage of arc reactor technology and how it could be used as a renewable energy source all over the world. The comity was floored by Tony’s ability to think of the fly and revolutionize things.

So Tony walked out of that room with three doctorates. One in Computer Science, one in Physics, and his newest one in Mechanical Engineering. Bucky was so proud. He took Tony, Rhodey, and their friends out to a fancy-ass restaurant to celebrate.

Not long after that, Tony started acting weird. He’d lock himself away in the basement lab they had at the house for hours on end. Nobody could get into the lab. Not even Rhodey. It worried Bucky. He knew that Tony wasn’t doing well after being kidnapped and tortured for so long. All he wanted to do was help his son heal. So, he started dragging Tony off to therapy sessions while he searched for who was responsible for the kidnapping in the first place. That seemed to help a bit. Tony was smiling more, but he still shut himself away down in that damn lab. Bucky wasn’t sure what the kid was working on. He had already made himself a new arc reactor so it wasn’t that. This was all just very confusing.

After what amounted to a month of insanity, Bucky was finally able to get into the lab and what he saw surprised him. Tony was surrounded by machines that were trying to pull a suit of red and gold armour off of him. Bucky stood there in shock as Tony slowly turned his head to look at his dad.

“Let’s be honest this is not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing Dad.”

“You mean like the time I walked in on you and Rhodey?”

“We said we wouldn’t talk about that!”

“Tony… what is this?” asked Bucky as Tony finally freed himself from the confines of his bright red and gold suit of armour.

“It’s um… It’s a suit. Like the one I used to escape that cave.” Started Tony.

From there he explained everything. He talked about the cave and how he got out. He talked about how he wanted to go destroy the weapons. He talked about how he wanted some way of protecting himself and others. How he just wanted to do something good.

That lead to a very long talk about safety and keeping secrets. Bucky knew he couldn’t stop Tony from doing this. He didn’t want to squash all the new confidence Tony was gaining in himself. He just wanted Tony to be safe. That’s all he wanted. By the end of the talk, both of them were hugging and Bucky didn’t want to let his kid go. 

So, Bucky let Tony go out flying and looking for his weapons on US soil. He didn’t need Tony flying halfway across the world just yet. And while Tony was doing that and scaring the shit out of him and Rhodey, Bucky was at SHIELD looking into who took Tony back in Afghanistan.

The one thing that kept running through Bucky’s mind was that this had to be an inside job. Any normal terrorist group would not have known that Tony was going to be on that base all alone and unguarded near the weapons at that specific time. This was an inside job and Bucky knew exactly where to start looking.

Hacking into Stane’s personal servers was stupidly easy. For being the CEO of a tech conglomerate, Stane sure didn’t know a whole lot about technology and how to protect his own shit. So, getting into the computer was the easy part. What Bucky saw next was the problem. He saw hours of communication between Stane and the Ten Rings. He saw armour schematics. He saw a ramson video where the leader asked Stane for more money to kill the Stark heir then he had previously offered. Bucky threw up watching the video. He hated seeing his son hurt like that.

Bucky took everything off of Stane’s computer and handed it over to Agent Coulson so they could use it as evidence. After that, Bucky decided it was high time he go home. About halfway through the drive, JARVIS sent Bucky an alert. Stane had entered the house and had disabled JARVIS there and now Tony was in danger. Bucky drove as fast as he could.

When he entered the house Bucky saw all the upturned furniture and started calling out of his son. He was sprinting all over the place trying to see if Tony was still there and alive. He eventually found himself in the basement lab where Rhodey was helping Tony put in his old arc reactor. Bucky rushed to their sides and asked what had happened.

“He took the reactor… He’s got a suit of his own. I have to stop him.” Huffed Tony as Rhodey helped him to his feet.

“I’m going with you, Tony. I’ll call in SHIELD. Where is he?” asked Bucky as he and Rhodey got Tony into his suit.

“At the plant.”

From there it was a mad dash to find Stane and take him out. Rhodey stayed behind to run tech support for Tony and Bucky broke so many traffic laws to keep up with Tony. But they were too late then they arrived. Stane was already suited up and wreaking havoc. Bucky had Tony fly around the back to do a sneak attack and to evacuate the road nearby of civilians while Bucky started down the man who had tormented his son for years.

“It’s over now Stane. SHIELD knows what you did. They know you’re the one who’s double-dealing weapons. They know you’re the one who had my kid kidnapped. It’s over. Stand down now while you still have the chance.” Shouted Bucky, his guns raised and poised to kill. 

“The brat should have died out there. The Ten Rings should have killed him when the realized he couldn’t build the weapons. He should have died and I should have gotten the company for good.”

That’s when the guns started firing. Bucky was at a disadvantage here. Stane’s armour was pretty much impenetrable with normal bullets. All he could do was run and hope for the best while back up arrived. Although, things quickly changed once Stane spotted Tony and the two took to the skies. Bucky stood on the ground and watched helplessly. He hoped Tony was alright.

After what felt like hours but was actually a few minutes, Stane cane plummeting back down to Earth covered in ice. He landed hard and stayed completely still has Tony landed beside him and stole his arc reactor back. Bucky ran forward and ripped Stane’s armour off right as the SHIELD agents arrived. The man inside was dead. The armour wasn’t enough to save him from a free fall from the upper atmosphere. Bucky breathed a sigh of relief and hugged his son. Stane was gone. He was gone and they would be alright.

The next day, Tony was called in for a press conference. The news of Stane dying and spread quickly, although the circumstances remained a secret. The reports just said that Stane had died and that someone who the media had dubbed “Iron Man” was there that night protecting civilians from Stane’s rampage. Tony was called in to talk because he was now in a position to take over SI with everything that had happened. There was yelling and one reporter, in particular, was insistent that Tony talk about this mysterious Iron Man character. She had Tony so flustered he was having trouble forming full sentences. He was still a kid for fuck’s sake. Eventually, Tony had to just come out and say what was going on before he had a panic attack. 

“Well um… the truth is… I am Iron Man.”

And the crowd went wild. 

The next few days were filled with news reports, paperwork, and stress. With Stane now dead, ownership of SI was passed to Bucky until Tony turned 18. Although, there were some stipulations with that. Bucky wasn’t allowed to make any decisions regarding the company at all. He could just hold onto it and keep it safe for the next 9 months until Tony took over. It was a little infuriating, but Bucky took it in stride. He wanted to make sure that everything was ready for when Tony took it over.

And when finally things seemed to be calming down, things took a turn and Fury showed up at the house to talk.

“No Fury. Tony is 17. He’s still a kid. He’s not joining SHIELD.” Spoke Bucky the second he saw the man. He knew exactly what Fury wanted.

“Bitch please, the kid has a suit made of metal that flies around. He’ll be fine.”

“Tony has a heart condition, asthma from the arc reactor, and knee problems. I don’t even like him being in the suit.”

“You can’t wrap the kid in bubble wrap Barnes.”

Well, he could damn well try. He was his Dad after all.

About a year after the kidnapping Tony finally turned 18 and took over ownership of Stark Industries. The second Tony took over he held a press conference to announce the changes he was going to implement, all of which pissed of the board of directors but Tony didn’t care. He was in charge now and he had some big ideas.

True to his word, Tony completely shut down weapons production. All the employees in that sector were moved to his new green energy sector so nobody lost their job. Another huge change was that Tony appointed his friend Pepper as his new CEO. Tony had no interest in the economics of things. He liked to build so that’s what he did. With Pepper now in charge she and Tony turned SI into a multibillion-dollar company in a matter of months.

Tony brought on his friend Happy to be head of security which he was doing an amazing job at. Happy made sure that everyone was safe and all the annoying Stane supporters were dealt with. Rhodey also joined in with the fun. Originally he’d wanted to join the air force after getting his master’s degree, but after seeing what Tony went through, he decided to become Tony’s second in command for engineering while he worked on his doctorate. Actually, he and Tony were working on making Rhodey his own version of the Iron Man suit. They still didn’t have a name for it but they had time. 

Everyone was actually doing really well with the new changes. The public loved all the new tech Tony and Rhodey were creating. Pepper had a small following of people who loved her for being a woman CEO who was making great strides in a male-dominated field. It was great. Everyone was happy. Everyone except Tony. And that really worried Bucky.

He worried. He was a worrier. He logically knew that Tony wasn’t going to be alright after everything that had happened to him. He knew that Tony wasn’t coping well with the stress of being thrust into the business world. He knew and he worried. Tony kept shutting himself away for days at a time.

So, one day, Bucky managed to corner his son so they could talk. Bucky pulled Tony aside and sat him down in his room where they could be alone. He asked Tony what was wrong and voiced his worries. Tony almost instantly broke into tears and spilled everything that had been happening over the past few months. Palladium poisoning. Tony was dying because his reactor was killing him and he couldn’t fix it. 

“Tony. Why did you tell me?” asked Bucky as he held his son and cried his own tears.

“I didn’t want to make you worry. I thought I could figure this out on my own and the problem would be fixed. I thought I would be alright. I guess I was wrong.”

“We’ll figure this out, Tony. We’ll figure this out and everything will be alright.” Whispered Bucky. He just needed everything to be alright.

Two days later, Bucky had to go in for work. He didn’t want to go in at all. Tony had woken up and thrown up blood. He was getting worse and Bucky didn’t want to leave him. But there was an emergency and Bucky had to go. He left his son in Rhodey’s care and hoped that he wouldn’t be gone long.

“Look, Fury, I don’t even want to be here today so let’s just get shit done.” Huffed Bucky as he was dragged around the new SHIELD offices by Fury.

“And why’s that Barnes? Normally you like coming in.”

“My kid is dying Nick. All I want is to be home with him. His arc reactor is killing him and I can’t even do anything about it.” Spoke a very frustrated Bucky. He hated seeing his kid dying before his eyes. He hated every second of it.

“You know. I’ve still got some of Howard Stark’s old stuff. Maybe there’s something in there that could help.” Offered Fury.

Now normally Bucky would have said no to anything having to do with Howard Stark, but he was so desperate to save his kid that he wasn’t about to refuse the help.

With Fury’s help, Bucky brought home all of the things Fury had in storage that might help Tony. Once he was home, Tony and Rhodey spent hours down in the lab going over every last bit of information there was to go over. Bucky stayed close by to help with any heavy lifting and to offer support when Tony was feeling too sick to do much. It broke his heart to see his baby so sick. He just hoped that they’d find something in those old notes.

A week later, they had a breakthrough. Tony had found some old notes on a new element. The notes were only partial and there was a lot of math that needed to be done, but from what they found, this new element could serve as a replacement for the palladium.

Two days later there was a homemade particle accelerator in the basement and the house was shaking. Luckily the neighbours didn’t call the cops. They were used to Tony’s shenanigans. By the end of it all Tony had discovered a new element and was no longer dying. They could all breathe a sigh of relief. Now what Tony really wanted to do was write up a paper on the new element so he could submit it to the scientific community. Maybe he’d get a Nobel Prize out of if for his discovery and manufacturing of Badassium.

Once the dust had all settled and Tony was healing up, Fury showed up at the house again. This time, with a proposal.

“I’d like you to join in on what I’m calling “The Avengers Initiative”.” Spoke Fury once he had handed Tony a rather large folder full of information.

“And what is this Avengers Initiative?” asked Tony as he started thumbing through the folder.

“It’s an idea, to bring together powered individuals in the event of a problem so large that normal agents wouldn’t be able to deal with it.” Explained Fury. “It’s so that these individuals can fight the battles that we never could.”

“And you want me? I’m not powered. I’m just… me.” Hesitated Tony as he looked between Fury and his Dad.

“You’re more important than you realize Stark.” Spoke Fury and Tony grumbled at the name. “You have insight into problems that nobody else does. We need you on this team.”

“Um… no. Tony’s still a kid.” Interrupted Bucky as he stared down Fury.

“No, he’s not. He’s an adult now. He can make his own decisions. Plus I’ll only come calling if it’s an emergency. It’s not like I’ll come calling for the little things. I’m not that much of an asshole to call in someone with disabilities into a situation where they could get worse if they’re not needed.” 

Bucky paused and thought for a second. He looked over at Tony who was looking through everything Fury gave him. He looked at Fury, who was waiting expectantly for answers. He looked at himself and went through all the information he was presented. Tony was an adult now and could make his own decisions, but Bucky was a bit overprotective and he wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened. Tony had just gotten over dying. He didn’t need that to happen again. 

“Fine. If you’re going to bring Tony in then I’m coming too. You don’t have a choice on the matter. If the situation is so bad that you need Tony then you’ll also need me. Got it?”

Fury nodded and they shook on it. Bucky didn’t mind being a part of this Avengers thing if it meant making sure that Tony was safe and didn’t do anything stupid. He’d take active duty SHIELD service over watching his son be an idiot with the armour.

With Tony’s dying problems all solved, they all decided it was high time to move to New York again. Pepper and Happy were already there doing stuff with the company and Rhodey was switching to finishing his degree online so he could put in more lab time. It was just the right time to make the move.

So, Tony decided to build a tower in Manhattan. It would act as housing for him and his family/friends and would also function as the new base of operations for SI. It was a win/win scenario. Tony and Rhodey had a great time designing the tower while Bucky sat and watched. He didn’t know much about science and architecture but he enjoyed how happy his son and his boyfriend looked while working on the tower.

The whole thing was going to be powered by an arc reactor with Tony’s new modified core. It was an engineering marvel and everyone was going nuts over it. Bucky actually couldn’t wait to move into the tower. It would be nice to return back to New York. He’d be closer to work and close enough to keep an eye on Tony and Rhodey. He just knew if he left those two alone for any meaningful amount of time they’d do something stupid and dangerous. Well, you win some you lose some. Bucky was just happy that his son was alive and with him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter took a little while longer than I hoped. I recently watched all of The Witcher on Netflix and I’m obsessed. I really need those books now. Well, enjoy the chapter. I’ll see you at the end!

Life was nice for a little while. Bucky, Rhodey, and Tony. The tower was finished and they’d moved in. All they had to do was get it connected to the arc reactor. Rhodey was sad he was missing that. He was needed at school to give his last presentation before his Ph.D. dissertation. He was so close to getting it and Tony was really proud of his boyfriend. Bucky was too for that matter. Rhodey had been working so hard. He deserved this.

The night Tony got the arc reactor connected should have been a night for celebration. Instead, it was a night that changed everything. Just was Bucky and Tony were gearing up to celebrate with some cupcakes and bad movies, Agent Coulson showed up with a whole wack of digital files and a worried expression.

“We’re calling you guys in. The information is in the packet. We’ll pick you up first thing in the morning. Be prepared.” Spoke the agent as he surveyed the room.

“What’s going on?” asked Bucky as Tony eagerly opened up the files and started going over all the information.

“All of this is in the packet. Fury will explain things when you meet up tomorrow.” Spoke Coulson.

Second later Tony opened up a file that caught everyone’s attention. The file had personnel information on everyone in the Avengers. Some were for people that Bucky knew such as Barton and Romanov. Others were for unknowns that were intriguing on their own. And one… well, one, in particular, caught Bucky’s eye. 

“Wait… Is that… Steve?” asked Bucky. He couldn’t tear his eyes off of the information in front of him.

“It is. We found him about a month ago.”

“Why wasn’t I told!”

“We weren’t sure if he’d survive the defrosting. We didn’t want to give you false hope.” 

Bucky stood there in disbelief. His best friend was alive! He couldn’t believe it. Bucky actually had to sit down as Coulson left the room and Tony ran to his dad’s side.

The rest of the night was spent trying to calm Bucky down and going through all the information.

Arriving at SHIELD the next morning was strange. Bucky had gone on his own to the carrier because Loki had been spotted in Germany and Tony had been called in for aerial support. Bucky worried about him the entire time he was getting his gear in check. It didn’t take long before Bucky was given all the news of what had happened. They’d caught Loki, had a scuffle with his brother and were now back on the carrier. Bucky knew that Tony would take a little bit to get out of his suit and to do any medical checks so he decided to head to the bridge to see what was going on there.

Once he got there he was immediately greeted by the sight of a familiar souped-up blond punk.

“Bucky…?”

“Hey, punk.” Smiled Bucky as he walked over and gave his friend a hug.

“I thought… I thought you died.”

“A lots happened since you went down. I’ll tell it all to you later.”

After a few minutes of hugging Fury came in and started giving everyone the rundown of what they knew. There were a lot of unanswered questions. Just as Fury was getting into something else Tony finally made it over. He was dressed in an old shirt that Peggy had given him, some ripped jeans that Bucky hated, and his Iron Man boots up past his knees. He often used the armour as leg braces so he didn’t have to change.

“Nice of you to finally join us.” Snarked Fury.

“I got lost.” Spoke Tony distractedly as he looked over the bridge.

Fury continued on with his little spiel now that everyone was present. Everyone was paying attention. Everyone except Tony. He was distracted by everything in the room. Tony had always had trouble focusing when it came to things that weren’t interesting to him, and the fact that the bridge was bustling with noise and activity wasn’t helping at all. Bucky just knew this was going to get him into trouble.

“That guy is playing Galaga!” shouted Tony, interrupting Fury and causing everyone’s eyes to turn to him.

“Stark!” snapped Fury as he looked over at the young man.

“Jesus Christ. How many times do I have to tell you people? It’s not Stark, it’s Barnes. I was adopted and was given my Dad’s last name. Just because Howard’s last name was Stark doesn’t mean it’s mine. How many times do I need to repeat myself?! Also, it’s Dr. Barnes if it’s all the same to you. I didn’t bust my ass at school for nothing. Repeat after me. My name isn’t Anthony Edward Stark, it’s Dr. Anthony Steven Barnes. Get it right or stop talking to me.” Snapped Tony. He was at the end of his rope with everyone’s bullshit at this point.

“I don’t care. Go with Banner and start looking for the cube. Between the two of you, you should be able to get it done before the world ends.” 

Tony huffed but walked out with Dr. Banner. The two started talking science right away and Bucky just knew that Banner would be making a visit to the tower to see Tony and Rhodey’s lab. As for everyone else, they were given their orders and quickly dismissed.

“What just happened?” asked Steve as he and Bucky started walking together towards the weapons hanger to gather some new gear.

“Tony’s been a bit stressed lately. We just moved, he and Rhodey haven’t seen each other in a few days, and he just started some new medication and it’s throwing him off.” Explained Bucky and Steve stopped to stare at him.

“And you know this how?”

“Because Tony’s my son.”

“…WHAT!?”

“I adopted him when he was just 7 months old. He’s my baby boy. Howard Stark may be his biological father, but I raised him.”

Steve stopped and started for a second and Bucky kept walking. He had work to do and he could catch up with Steve later.

Bucky went to the weapons hanger to go stalk up on some essentials. When he’d first arrived on the carrier Bucky hadn’t had the chance to get everything ready. He was more worried about Tony’s fight than getting himself ready. He knew Steve was probably shocked at the news but Bucky didn’t pay that much mind. 

After a few minutes, Bucky decided that it was time to head back to the main labs of the carrier. He was supposed to get his gear ready and then help Tony in the lab with any heavy lifting he and Bruce may need. It should have been simple. Unfortunately, once he arrived at the lab he was met with the sounds of yelling. Bucky had obviously walked in on the tail end of the conversation because Tony was already twitchy and agitated and Steve looked like he wanted to punch something.

“Who here is wearing a spangly outfit and is not of use.”

“You’re one to talk. You’ve still got the leg pieces of your armour on. Talk about a hypocrite.”

“For your information, the leg pieces of the armour double as leg braces for me because I have nerve problems and stuff. I have normal braces I wear at home but my armour acts as a brace when I’m in it. My get up is useful. Yours is not.”

“Alright! Stop!” shouted Bucky as he got closer. Bruce was just doing his own thing and didn’t pay the others any mind.

“Steve, stop bullying my kid. And Tony, you’re grounded.”

“You can’t ground me. I’m an adult!” spoke Tony indignantly. Bruce just laughed a bit in the corner.

“You still live with me.”

“Only because you won't let Rhodey and I live unsupervised.”

“If I left you two alone the apocalypse would start.”

“Bucky, explain to your kid that he should be doing work and not messing around.” Snarked Steve as he glared back at Tony.

“Tony knows that. If he’s doing something else then so what. He knows what he’s going.” Explained Bucky. “Speaking of which, what have you found Tones?”

“I just finished installing JARVIS. SHIELD is hiding something. They’re doing something with the cube thingy. I want to know what they’re doing. SHIELD is a defence organization, what are they doing looking into the energy field? That’s my work.”

“Look, Cap, you can’t tell me something fishy isn’t happening here.” Spoke up, Bruce. Bucky nodded along. Things had changed withing SHIELD since Fury took charge from Peggy when she retired. He had no clue what was going through his and the council's heads.

“Just find the cube.” Snapped Steve as he stormed out of the room.

Bucky gave Tony a hug and a small pack of blueberries he’d picked up before following after his friend. He knew that Steve was probably having a hard time adjusting to being in the future but he didn’t have to take it out on Tony. Sure, Tony was a bit more animated than the normal person now that he had some stability in his life and people to protect him, but that wasn’t an excuse for Steve to get mad at him. 

“He’s nothing like Howard was back in the day. I’d have thought he’d be like him because he was his father.” Grumbled Steve once Bucky caught up with him just down the hall.

“Well be bloody well better not! That man was a monster who neglected his baby. I know for a fact that I raised Tony better than that.” Snapped Bucky. And Steve took a step back. Bucky was a total mama bear when it came to his kid. He took a moment to control himself before continuing.

“Look, I’m not going to go into the details of how I got Tony. That’s a long story, but Howard was not the kind of man who should have been a father. Tony was malnourished, he already had knee problems from Howard twisting them. It was awful.”

“So you adopted him?”

“Yeah. I did. I adopted him and changed his name so we could purge Howard Stark from his life. Although that didn’t stop that asshole Stane from using his old name to spread rumours.”

“What rumours? You mean all the things I saw in the papers and stuff? All the things on the computer? Those are all lies? There were pictures and evidence. You’re telling me that they’re all fake?” 

“Steve all those stories are false. When Tony was at MIT he lived with me. He was still a kid. Of course, he stayed with me. I’m his Dad for fuck's sake. And when he made his first real friend he lived with us too so both of them had a safe place to eat and work. All of that partying crap is a lie. Stane made it up and fed it to the media because he thought that Tony should behave like Howard, who, once again, was a right bastard. So, stop picking on my kid!” 

Steve just nodded along before the two went to go searching for what SHIELD was using the cube for. Steve knew that Bucky was protective of those he cared about. The two managed to sneak into a locked weapons hanger despite their bulky physique. Once they were in they started looking though containers to see if they could find anything. 

Although, after opening up one container they very quickly knew what was happening.

“These look like HYDRA weapons.” Spoke Steve as he carefully picked on up.

“I thought I got rid of them all within SHIELD. Peggy and I worked for years weeding them all out.” Whispered Bucky as he took a step back. Steve looked over at his friend. He was sure there was a story there but now wasn’t the time. 

“We need to go tell the other Avengers. They need to know.” Spoke Steve and the two started running back towards the lab were Tony and Bruce were working.

They arrived just in time for Tony and Bruce to start interrogating Fury about what Phase 2 was. Steve interjected and tossed the weapon on the table. Bucky noticed Tony flinch at the weapon being thrown and he went to his son’s side to make sure he was alright. He knew a moment like this would probably remind him of Afghanistan.

From there, things just escalated. There was yelling and fighting. Romanov showed up along with Thor and things just got louder. Bucky noticed that Tony was starting to space out with everything going on. He’d been like that when confronted with loud noises and conflict since being kidnapped. Bucky tried to get everyone to calm down, but it was Bruce picking up the sceptre that did it.

It was only seconds after that they got a ping on the location of the cube and all hell broke loose. The carrier was bombed and the floor beneath them crumbled. The others fell to the floor below while Bucky, Steve, and Tony were lucky enough to stay on the floor they were on.

“Tony! Go put on your suit!” shouted Bucky and Tony ran off as fast as his busted knees and tattered lungs could carry him. Steve and Bucky followed behind and went where Fury ordered them to. They made their way to one of the broken propellers where Tony was already waiting. Their task was to fix it while keeping the agents Loki brainwashed away from everything. Not so hard, right?

Wrong.

Bucky and Steve got knocked down and Tony almost got shredded by the moving propellers. Bucky was so scared when he heard Tony scream and get stuck. Luckily they were able to get the blades stalled long enough for Tony to get out.

And that wasn’t the only bad part. Agent Phil Coulson had been killed by Loki. That news hit Bucky, Romanov, and a no longer brainwashed Barton pretty hard. They’d know Coulson for a long time. Bucky couldn’t stay in the room as Fury gave his little teamwork speech. He left the room pretty quick with Tony following behind. They ended up in the room where Coulson died. Neither really said much, they just looked out over the void and thought.

“Dad… are we going to get through this?” asked Tony. Even though he was almost 21 years old he sounded like a little kid when he asked.

“I don’t know Tones. I don’t know. But I can promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure we both get back home at the end of the day.”

Tony nodded and stayed silent for a second. He seemed lost in thought for a little bit before he got a notification from JARVIS that something was wrong.

“Dad! Loki’s at the tower. JARVIS said he’s using the arc reactor to power something holding the cube!” shouted Tony and the two of them went running to go find the other Avengers still on the carrier. Bucky was quick to start giving order and soon enough everyone was preparing to head out to Loki’s location.

Tony flew ahead to go check out the situation at the tower while Bucky and the others boarded the jet and raced to catch up. By the time they’d arrived all hell had already broken loose. The portal had been opened and Chitauri soldiers were raining down upon the citizens of New York. Tony was doing all he could to contain the fight as Bucky and the others arrived to help.

Bucky and Steve started quickly shouting orders while everyone else listened. All the aerial and long-range fighters were tasked with keeping the steady flow of Chitauri under control while everyone else focused on helping civilians. 

Chaos was the only word any of them could use to describe the situation. It was pure, unadulterated chaos. People were screaming and running in the streets. There were aliens all over the place. Thor was shooting lightning everywhere. It was horrible. In all of Bucky’s years, he’d never seen anything like this.

Nobody was sure how long the battle actually lasted. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. All that they knew was that they were running out of steam and the Chitauri were still coming. There were so many close calls before they got lucky. Or… not so lucky.

“I can close it! Can anyone hear me? I can close it!” called Natasha over the coms.

“Do it!” shouted Steve and Bucky started to smile. This could finally be over!

“No! Don’t!” shouted Tony and Bucky’s smile dropped.

“Barnes. These things are still coming.” Spoke Steve as he looked to the sky.

“I’ve got a nuke incoming, and I know just where to put it.”

“Tony… don’t you dare! That’s a one-way trip!” screamed Bucky as he watched his son fly closer to the open portal.

“I’m sorry Dad. I love you. Tell Rhodey that too.”

“Tony. Please.” Cried Bucky. There were tears falling from his eyes.

“I’m so sorry.”

“TONY! TONY! NO!” screamed Bucky as he watched his son disappear into the open portal with a nuke on his back.

Everyone waited to see if Tony would come back through. He must have been successful in moving the nuke because seconds later the Chitauri started dropping like flies. Steve eventually gave the order to Natasha to close the portal. Bucky wanted to scream to leave it open but he found that he couldn’t voice anything other than crying. But all hope wasn’t lost. As Natasha closed the portal, Tony fell through at the last second. 

“Son of a bitch.” Whispered Steve.

“He’s not slowing down!” worried Thor as he started to run over to the falling young man.

Thor wasn’t fast enough, but Hulk was on the case. He caught Tony in his arms and placed him on the ground once they had landed. Bucky went sprinting to his son’s side. He ripped his faceplate off with his metal arm. His hands were shaking and tears fell from his eyes as he hoped and prayed that his son was alive. 

Bucky looked down at his son’s face. There was a crack in his glasses and multiple still bleeding cuts covering the left side of his face. His eyes were closed and his mouth slack. He looked almost… peaceful. Bucky rested his hand over the reactor in his son’s chest. The light was out and the glass was cracked. A few tears began to fall from his eyes as it hit him. His son was pretty much dead and he could do nothing to help him.

In a moment of grief, Hulk let out a mighty roar that rivalled Bucky’s own crying. In seconds Tony’s eyes shot open and the arc reactor flickered back to life. Bucky sat in amazement for a second before he pulled his baby into his arms. Almost instantly Tony began coughing and sputtering. Bucky fished a miraculously still intact inhaler out of one of his many pockets and helped Tony take his medication. Steve ran over to help with removing Tony’s armour and Clint called for a SHIELD evac. Loki was under control for now. Thor would see to that. But right then, all Bucky cared about was his son.

“Don’t worry Bub. We’ll get you to medical. You’ll be alright.” Soothed Bucky as he finished stripping Tony of his suit and pulled him into his arms.

“ok…”

Nobody was really sure what allowed Tony to live that day, but nobody cared. Those close to Tony were just glad that he was alive. Rhodey came a few days later to visit Tony as he recovered. Bucky wasn’t allowed in the room with them while they were together. He’d learned that the hard way long ago.

Slowly, things got back to normal. Bruce and Steve came to live in the tower with Bucky, Tony, and Rhodey. Bruce was even offered a job with SI that he gladly took. Bucky got around to telling Steve everything that had happened to him since falling off that train. There were tears. Manley tears, but still tears. Both were just happy to have each other back after all the shit they’d been through.

So, that was the story of how a brainwashed super-soldier adopted a little baby. That was the story about how family is so much more than blood. That was the story about how the bonds we choose to form are the most important of them all. Yes, there were hardships, but in the end, peace was found along with love. And that’s really what matters in the end. Love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… what did everyone think of this one. I’m sad to see it done. I’ve had this idea for a while and I’m really happy with how it turned out. Keep your eyes open for a Stuckony fic of mine coming out in the near future. In the meantime, you can take a look at all my other amazing fics. I’ve got loads for you to choose from. I’ll see you all soon! -Shadows


End file.
